Today could have been a day to remember for myself and Nicklas Bendtner. The big Danish striker could and should have put his name up in lights. He could and should have scored three maybe four goals. He could, at last, have taken a step towards living up to the billing that he and the media machine around him has built up over the last few seasons. More to the point, he could have come to the rescue of my rather mediocre fantasy season.
I captained Nicklas Bendtner today. Don’t look at me like that; I needed a differential. The world and his WAG handed the armband to Cesc Fabregas and that included my mini-league rivals. Bendtner was up against an over-polite and travel-sick Burnley defence and I had dreams and hopes of a hat-trick or more. Those hopes seemed forlorn and optimistic but from early reports, it could have well materialised.
Bendtner missed chance after chance in the 3-1 win. The exasperated Arsenal fans apparently resorted to laughter in the end; generously extending themselves to hand Bendtner applause on his withdrawal with 15 minutes remaining. Bendtner slumped into place on the bench with a shrug and a grin. Typically, he was coming over all philosophical, dare I say arrogant. Little did he know just how many of my points he’d tucked past the post, over the bar and into the side netting…
Watching Match of The Day will be fun tonight. Viewing Bendtner repeatedly miss the target will be akin to taking in video evidence of a girlfriend entwined with a another man (sorry Wayne). Those really should have been my moments to enjoy. You never know; The BBC were sensitive to the horror show that Shawcross inflicted on poor Aaron Ramsey last weekend. Maybe they will spare me Bendtner’s grizzly showing this evening.
To make matters worse, with Cesc Fabregas withdrawn before half-time, skippering Bendtner could have proved an unlikely masterstroke. As it turned out, the opening goal for the Arsenal skipper will likely be enough for my rivals to get the better of me yet again. Bendtner’s assist for Walcott’s goal at least provided some consolation. Surely the FPL bonus judges, unlike the Emirates crowd, won’t have been smiling on Bendtner today. Then again, stranger things have happened.
As for the Fabregas injury – it’s a hamstring again. He was withdrawn before half-time as a precaution but it will be a big worry for Arsene Wenger going into their Champions League tie with Porto in midweek. Fabregas has of course just returned from a hamstring injury and it’s beginning to look like he has developed a weak spot; perhaps it’s just aggravated scar tissue from the previous injury. Until the scans and likely prognosis tomorrow, we can only speculate.
Elsewhere it’s Wayne Rooney’s omission from the United squad that will be the talking point. Having refused to rest Rooney for home matches with Portsmouth and West Ham, Ferguson has done so today for the trip to Wolves.
With so much doubt surrounding Rooney before the game it seems unlikely that this will cost many fantasy managers dearly. The majority of his owners will have started with him in their lineup of course and, in a gameweek with so many players missing, Rooney’s absence will test the strength of our fantasy benches. I can imagine there will be plenty without eleven players as a result of Ferguson’s decision but how many were willing to sell on Rooney before this game with United facing three home games in the next four? Very few. That would have taken balls. Perhaps the kind of balls that hand Bendtner the FPL captaincy. No wait; that’s just stupidity.
As this is typed United are being held 0-0 by McCarthy’s side. I wonder if Sir Alex will be joining me in thinking “what might have been” when we sit down with Match of the Day later.